Madison County Assisted Outpatient Treatment Program - Wellstone, North Alabama's largest and most comprehensive behavioral healthcare provider, is partnering with the Madison County Probate Court and Huntsville Hospital to develop the Madison Co. Assisted Outpatient Treatment (MCAOT) Program, treating individuals with serious mental illness (SMI). Wellstone's 12 facilities offer a wide range of mental health and substance use services to over 13,000 clients annually.
The MCAOT Program will be implemented in Madison County, Alabama, which covers 801 square miles, has a population of 366,519, and is home to Alabama's fourth-largest city, Huntsville. Wellstone estimates that of the more than 14,600 individuals in Madison Co. living with an SMI, 32% or approximately 4,600, are not receiving services. It is estimated that 25% or 116 individuals who are considered homeless or precariously housed in Madison Co. also live with an SMI. Nearly 2000, or 20%, of the approximately 10,000 individuals incarcerated in the County have a diagnosable SMI.
The MCAOT Program provides services to individuals who are at high risk for inpatient psychiatric commitment but would be better served by intensive outpatient services and support. These services include individualized treatment plans, intensive case management, medication management, and wraparound services.
Wellstone's Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) will provide these services to individuals diagnosed with an SMI. Huntsville Hospital has a long history of working with populations experiencing mental health emergencies, and will be the primary source of referrals to the MCAOT program. The Madison County Probate Court conducts all of the civil commitment hearings in the region. The Probate Court will conduct the Outpatient Commitment Hearings and periodic treatment plan reviews.
The admission criteria a client must meet includes an SMI psychiatric diagnosis with a high risk for long-term hospitalization. Individuals must demonstrate a need for co-existing treatment due to the inability to be successful within a traditional service delivery system and be experiencing residual psychiatric symptoms causing challenges in financial stability, personal care, and medical status.
The MCAOT will serve 50 individuals during year one, and 75 individuals in years two, three, and four each, for a total of 275 unduplicated individuals by the end of the grant period. Wellstone expects that by year four, there will be a 75% decrease in individuals needing inpatient psychiatric care and/or incarceration. They estimate that once an individual completes the ACT phase of the MCAOT Program, 70% will be in stable housing, 75% are employed, looking for work, or are receiving job training, and 60% will have increased their self-sufficiency.
